ALL ABOUT JAZZ monthly edition — april 2001 03 Jazz Ed. by David Liebman 04 Trane by Gregory Dudzienski 09 Jaki Byard by Derek Taylor EDITOR-IN-CHIEF: Aaron Wrixon 16 Django Reinhardt by Derek W. Brown ASSOCIATE EDITOR: Michael Martino 22 Larry Goldings by Chris Hovan CONTRIBUTORS: 25 Lee Townsend by Mike Brannon David R. Adler, Glenn Astarita, Mike Brannon, Derek W. Brown, Gregory Dudzienski, Robert Evanoff, Chris Hovan, Dave Hughes, Todd S. Jenkins, Nils Jacobson, David 32 Reflections on Percy Heath by Rob Mariani Liebman, Rob Mariani, David A. Orthmann, Dave Roberts, Derek Taylor, Don Williamson. 36 Marshall Lamm of Yoshi’s by Dave Roberts ON THE COVER: “My Favorite Things” by Kevin Neireiter PUBLISHER: 43 The Jazz Composers Collective by David R. Adler Michael Ricci 46 CD Reviews Contents © 2001 All About Jazz, Wrixon Media Ventures, and contributors. Letters to the editor and manuscripts welcome. Visit www.allaboutjazz.com for contact information. Unsolicited mailed manuscripts will not be returned. Coltrane has always been my main man, specifi cally for musicians who are players, the period. His music gets better and better over sound of Trane’s horn along with his execution time. He played so well, so passionately, so of ideas, feeling of the blues and harmonic sincerely, so perfectly. It’s more than the depth are models of what we aspire towards. normal nostalgia any individual feels for what Can there be any greater praise? infl uenced him or her at a certain crucial The All About Jazz “Giants of Jazz” John stage and in my case witnessed live during Coltrane Page is a great place to start the 1960s. Trane’s music is eternal and for the and to expand your knowledge of Coltrane, ages. Appreciation of what he did will grow as the man and his music. With essays, CD time goes on, as it does for Duke and Monk reviews, scholarship, interviews, web links, and others who were so advanced for their and other sources of information about every time, for all time. aspect of this extraordinary musical force and But why should listeners and musicians, for personality, you’ll learn things about Trane whom Coltrane is just another legend who which will deepen your listening and, if you has passed on, listen to him in more than a are a musician, enhance your playing. Dig in, ED. casual way? It is precisely for the honesty or should I say, link in, and enjoy! J and sincerity which Coltrane exuded at all stages of his brief career — these qualities are more important than ever as time goes on. We live in an age of fast communication and overload. It gets harder to discern the real from pretense. With Coltrane, no one can walk away without getting the point. It may not be easy, especially at the beginning, to get past the intensity of his statement, but the well DAVID LIEBMAN, runs deep and can be drawn upon forever. More JAZZ GUEST EDITOR It has been said that John Coltrane reinvented jazz three times. During the years 1955-1967 he went through an incredible evolution that, with each new phase, redefi ned the customs and performance practices of the music. This article will discuss each of the three periods as well as give some recommendations as to specifi c recordings that illustrate each. Of course, the demarcations are arbitrary. Trane didn’t wake up on the morning of January 1, 1960 and say: “OK, I’m done playing changes. Time for modal playing.” Rather, it was an organic process of reexamining, redefi ning, and not allowing his art to become static. This sense of mission continues to be a great infl uence of the artists of today. Be-Bop Roots to Giant Steps (1955-1959) This can be considered Trane’s formative period. His sound and feel were infl uenced by Dexter Gordon and Lester Young and it is evident in this period especially. The recordings of Miles Davis’ fi rst great quintet ‘ such as Workin’, Steamin’, Cookin’, Relaxin’ and Round About Midnight, as well as recordings with Thelonious Monk and a series of solo TRANE BY GREGORY DUDZIENSKI recordings on the Prestige label document this period of development very well. During this order to “fi t” the entire scale in it would example, in the key of C major, instead of time Trane was dealing mostly with standards, have to be played very fast and often with sounding four bars of just C major, a composer and with some original compositions, but an uneven metric feel (seven or nine notes would write: D minor 7th for a bar, G7 for a it was all common practice harmony (i.e., over two beats, for instance). This practice bar, and fi nally C major for the remaining two ii-V7-I). The element that set him apart at resulted in a very cascade-like effect. In 1958 bars. This harmonic progression adds interest this point was his approach to playing over a reviewer, Ira Gitler, termed this type of as well as “tonicizes” the key of C, i.e. leads these changes. Some background is necessary. playing “sheets of sound.” For an example the ear to C. Coltrane took this progression Through the early 50’s, Trane’s playing was of this, listen to “Russian Lullaby” from the and tonicized a total of three keys “on the essentially diatonic and followed the “rules” Soul Trane recording. Another recording that way” to C. While the typical progression would for change playing. Some of the characteristics illustrates this type of playing is “Lush Life”. It look like this: of this kind of playing include melodic motion was also during this period that Trane recorded Dmin7 | G7 | Cmaj7 | Cmaj7 | by half step at the point of the chord one of his fi rst masterpieces, the great Blue Trane adds some more colorful twists. The change and a predominantly eighth note based Note recording Blue Trane. This is some of new progression looks like this: rhythmic concept. For an excellent example of his very best early work. Check out “Moment’s Dmin7 Eb7| Abmaj7 B7| Emaj7 G7| Cmaj7 | this type of playing, listen to his solo on the Notice” from that recording to hear some very Trane passes through three separate keys, Sonny Rollins tune “Oleo” (Relaxin with the inspired change playing. starting in C (the Dmin7 is functioning in the Miles Davis Quintet). As he progressed through Giant Steps (1959-1960) key of C) he moves through AbMaj and Emaj the 50’s, he was becoming more and more The recording Giant Steps was the while leading us to C major. Instead of only interested in harmony. Instead of being mainly culmination of Trane’s harmonic study of the playing ideas that function in C major, he concerned with the chords associated with ‘50s. Throughout the late fi fties, Coltrane plays ideas that function in C, Ab, E and C the changes to a tune (although he never was exploring different ways of playing the again. The use of three key centers, all a major lost interest in this aspect of harmony), he harmonic progressions of the various tunes he third apart, gives a very symmetrical as well as was becoming more interested in the related was working on. These tunes were comprised colorful sound. For examples, listen to “Giant scales. This led to his incorporation of these mostly of varying types of ii-V7 progressions. Steps” and “Countdown”, from the Giant Steps scales into his improvisations. Many times, the The ii-V7-I was the most standard type of album as well as “Satellite” and the bridge harmonic rhythm of a tune was such that in harmonic progression during this time. For section of “Body and Soul” from the Coltrane’s Sound album. Another fi ne example is “Fifth on Milestones. While Kind of Blue is generally modalism in jazz. House” from Coltrane Jazz. “Fifth House” is accepted as the beginning of modalism in jazz, Coltrane formed his working quartet in the especially interesting because you can hear the title track of Milestones (recorded a year early ‘60s. After several personnel changes, Trane superimposing the “Giant Step Cycle”, as earlier) gives us the fi rst example of this he settled on the group of McCoy Tyner on it has come to be known, over a pedal or static kind of playing. What is modalism? In jazz piano, Jimmy Garrison on bass and Elvin Jones “drone-like” bass note. This period, like all of prior to 1960, the repertoire was based on on drums. The repertoire of this quartet was Trane’s periods, is really a study unto itself. standards (the popular music of the day such very heavily weighted to modal playing. As For an excellent study of this type of harmonic as Cole Porter and George Gershwin) and discussed above, the biggest feature of modal progression, see Walt Weiskopf’s outstanding original compositions that followed common music is static harmony. Trane’s quartet used book: Coltrane, A Player’s Guide to his Harmony practice harmony as described above. Even this element to explore many new concepts (Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Inc.) It is a very Giant Steps and its related tunes are derived that have come to be common performance technical book, geared to advanced musicians, from this type of harmony. With modalism, practices. These practices include harmonic but the fi rst chapters are a great description tunes were not built on chords or chord and scalar superimposition, a more pronounced of the deep logic that is inherent in this progressions, but on modes.